Data Journalism in Arkansas
Jour 401v - Jour 508v, Fall 2021
Class Time: Monday-Wednesday, 3:30 p.m.-4:45 p.m.
Aug. 23 - Dec. 9, 2020

Rob Wells, Ph.D.

@rwells1961

Syllabus - Jour 401v: “CNTL” + click for a New Tab

Course Text: “CNTL” + click for a New Tab

Summary Course Assignments

These assignments topics may shift and evolve as we continue our reporting during the semester. I will provide advance notice of any changes.

1: Data Analysis. Due Sept. 12 Students will gather, analyze and visualize Arkansascovid data and report and write a 400 word story and provide social media with a basic chart.

2: Reporting Memo with Tableau Chart. Due Oct 5
Students gather, analyze and visualize Arkansascovid data and produce a Tableau chart suitable for publication. Data dictionary required. Report and write a 400 word story and provide social media.

3: Interactive Map. Due Oct 26 Students will build interactive maps of Arkansascovid data. Results will be posted on GitHub. Data dictionary required. Basic R used for analysis. Report and write a 400 word story.

4: Interactive Data Visualization. Due Nov 16. Students build multipanel interactive graphics / maps of Arkansascovid data by school district. Basic R used for analysis. Results will be posted on GitHub. Data dictionary required. Report and write a 600 word story.

5: Multimedia Data Story. Due Dec 3. Students will produce a blog post with photos, a short video, a map and an interactive graphic plus a 400 word story. Basic R used for analysis. Results will be posted on GitHub. Data dictionary required.

Monday, Aug. 23: Course Tools, Excel Basics

Agenda:

--Discuss syllabus
--Blackboard site
--Arkansascovid.com
--Excel / Flourish Exercise with Arkansascovid data
--Teams
--Interview a classmate for homework

Discuss Syllabus

https://forms.office.com/r/nrySuungzH

Basic Excel

Click below on the ebook link, See Section "3 Introduction to Data Analysis"

https://bookdown.org/connect/#/apps/f79d74ff-4d33-4bfd-a1aa-de6aaf4e340a/access

Create a Flourish account

https://app.flourish.studio/login

Teams

See Chapter: Teams

https://bookdown.org/connect/#/apps/f79d74ff-4d33-4bfd-a1aa-de6aaf4e340a/access

Homework

Write 200 Word Story Introducing A Classmate To The Rest of Us. Due Tuesday, 11:59 pm, Blackboard.

What questions will you ask? Let’s brainstorm

https://docs.google.com/document/d/10ZlhnxEkJi88spQ_3lyGni8TtF97KcIu1R5nAQonfLk/edit?usp=sharing

Read / View Before Next Class

Sheffo, Catherine. “How to Avoid 10 Common Mistakes in Data Reporting.” American Press Institute (blog), August 9, 2016. https://www.americanpressinstitute.org/publications/data-reporting-common-mistakes/

Chapter 3 Introduction to Data Analysis https://bookdown.org/connect/#/apps/f79d74ff-4d33-4bfd-a1aa-de6aaf4e340a/access

Flourish Tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKO_jjqgooc&feature=emb_title

Wednesday, Aug. 25: Excel, Flourish

Agenda

  Arkansascovid.com
  Introduction Stories
  Intellectual Property / Data Sharing Releases
  Pair-Share on Sheffro reading
  Resume Excel exercise - sorting
  Intro to Flourish

Intellectual Property / Data Sharing Releases

UofA Rules of Conduct

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YkdkRIzIs1WQ3P9KIICvHcppfWvwTyo2bRhGwQPsgVE/edit

License Agreement

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AahzxDOzTf9Z6PBjBvFBOjnn9_BiM4YldnXW-mHZr9s/edit

How to Create a Flourish Chart

  Create a Flourish account

https://app.flourish.studio/login

See Chapter: Flourish

https://bookdown.org/connect/#/apps/f79d74ff-4d33-4bfd-a1aa-de6aaf4e340a/access

Excel Proficiency

Entering data, cursors, formatting, sum, average, median, change, percent change.

–See exercise in Ch. 4 Excel Bootcamp

See Ch. 7, Organize Your Data   
Skills: Data Dictionary, Part 1   
Skills: Organize Your Data. Finder, Storage, File Organization

https://bookdown.org/connect/#/apps/f79d74ff-4d33-4bfd-a1aa-de6aaf4e340a/access

Jour 5083 _ Nerd Corner

Ch. 13 R Introduction, get the program loaded on your computer, walk through a script in the next class.

https://bookdown.org/connect/#/apps/f79d74ff-4d33-4bfd-a1aa-de6aaf4e340a/access

Read Before Next Class

Sage Research Methods: Choosing the Right Visualization Tools for COVID-19 Data https://methods.sagepub.com/video/srmpromo/UEODnk/choosing-the-right-visualization-tools-for-covid-19-data

Principles of Data Visualization https://wordpressua.uark.edu/datareporting/data-visualization/

Gov. Hutchison’s YouTube Channel. Check the Aug. 19 event https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLJcNdgp2PMEmiqJEoYzqwQ

Homework due Friday, Aug. 27, 11:59 p.m. –See Blackboard for Excel assignment

–See Blackboard, Data Literacy Test

Monday, Aug. 31: Excel and Flourish

Agenda

Excel and calculations
Flourish

Excel

Percentage Change
Average
Tabs
Data Dictionary

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Arkansascovid/Main/master/MasterData/vaccine.csv

Flourish

Videos to Get Started
Beginning Documents
Flourish Design Tips
Flourish Links    
Visualization Options
Headline, Footer Formatting
Sourcing
Colors

Homework due Tuesday, Aug 31, 11:59 p.m.
–See Blackboard, Aug 31

Read Before Next Class

Chapter: Introduction to Data Analysis https://bookdown.org/connect/#/apps/f79d74ff-4d33-4bfd-a1aa-de6aaf4e340a/access

View and Read Flourish Tutorials Before Next Class

Wednesday, Sept. 1 - Flourish, Excel

Agenda

Excel
Flourish
Review Introduction to Data Analysis

Introduction to data analysis, including math for journalists

Basics of Data Analysis
Numbers in the Newsroom
Excel Exercises 
Review: Mac OSX Basics

Reminder: Assignment 1: Data Analysis. Due Sept. 12 Students will gather, analyze and visualize Arkansascovid data and report and write a 400 word story and provide social media with a basic chart.

Talk to me about your ideas.

Homework / Reading due Friday, Sept. 3, 11:59 p.m.

See Blackboard.

Homework / Reading due Tuesday, Sept. 7, 11:59 p.m.

Includes Data Literacy Test See Blackboard.

View and Read Flourish Tutorials Before Next Class

Monday, Sept. 6: Data Types, Tableau

Happy Labor Day! No Class

Wednesday, Sept. 8: Data Types, Data Cleaning

Agenda

Workshop on Assignment #1   
Sorting   
Flourish Formatting   
Discuss, Work on Data Analysis Assignment.

Data cleaning

Filtering
Reading Data Dictionaries
Data Cleaning Exercises

Homework: See Blackboard, Sept. 10 Homework

Reminder: Assignment 1: Data Analysis. Due Sunday Sept. 12

  • Exercise

Read Before Next Class

Chapter: Data Visualization https://bookdown.org/connect/#/apps/f79d74ff-4d33-4bfd-a1aa-de6aaf4e340a/access

Monday, Sept. 13: Data Visualizatiion

Agenda

Principles of Data Visualization
Tableau

Assignment 1: Data Analysis. Due Sept. 12

Students will gather, analyze and visualize Arkansascovid data and report and write a 400 word story and provide social media with a basic chart.

Data Visualization

Principles of Data Visualization
Cleveland McGill Scale
Important Resources for Surveying the Data Visualization Options
Color Choices
Build a Cover Image Using Canva or InDesign or Powerpoint
Higher Resolution Graphics in Tableau

Basic Tableau

Downloading instructions for Tableau
Getting started tutorial with video
Building a basic COVID data chart with video and transcript
Using filters and calculations with video and transcript
Tutorial on Tableau calculations with video
Proper formatting of a filter bar in Tableau, video
Links to additional Tableau Tutorials

-Read our reader feedback on the new site. Draft a response to this person. We’ll discuss and then send one

See “Stacy Robinson Your Post on Twitter” in Files | Teams
https://bit.ly/32tw7Q1

Read Before Next Class

Chapter: Tableau https://bookdown.org/connect/#/apps/f79d74ff-4d33-4bfd-a1aa-de6aaf4e340a/access

Wednesday, Sept. 15: Tableau

Agenda

Tableau

Read Before Next Class

Chapter: Writing About Data https://bookdown.org/connect/#/apps/f79d74ff-4d33-4bfd-a1aa-de6aaf4e340a/access

Homework: See Blackboard, Friday Sept. 17

Monday, Sept. 20: Tableau, Writing About Data

Agenda

Basic Tableau

Downloading instructions for Tableau
Getting started tutorial with video
Building a basic COVID data chart with video and transcript
Using filters and calculations with video and transcript
Tutorial on Tableau calculations with video
Proper formatting of a filter bar in Tableau, video
Links to additional Tableau Tutorials

-For Wednesday

Chapter: Writing About Data https://bookdown.org/connect/#/apps/f79d74ff-4d33-4bfd-a1aa-de6aaf4e340a/access

Wednesday, Sept. 22

Agenda

Writing About Data

Writing About Data

Writing Style Notes
Common Errors – Math
AP Style with Numbers

Exercise: Peer Editing of Unedited Data Stories

Read Before Next Class

Chapter: Tableau Maps https://bookdown.org/connect/#/apps/f79d74ff-4d33-4bfd-a1aa-de6aaf4e340a/access

Monday Sept. 27: Tableau Maps

Agenda

Tableau - Maps

Mapping tutorial & sample dataset
Build a Map COVID-19 Positivity in Arkansas Counties
Video
Dual Mapping - Bubble Maps

Reminder: Assignment 2: Reporting Memo with Tableau Chart, Due Oct 5 Students gather, analyze and visualize Arkansascovid data and produce a Tableau chart suitable for publication. Data dictionary required. Report and write a 400 word story and provide social media.

Read Before Next Class

Chapter: Tableau Maps https://bookdown.org/connect/#/apps/f79d74ff-4d33-4bfd-a1aa-de6aaf4e340a/access

Wednesday Sept. 29: Tableau Maps

Agenda

Tableau Maps
Questions About Assignment 2, due Monday

Tableau - Maps

Mapping tutorial & sample dataset
Build a Map COVID-19 Positivity in Arkansas Counties
Video
Dual Mapping - Bubble Maps

Tableau - Maps

Mapping tutorial & sample dataset
Build a Map COVID-19 Positivity in Arkansas Counties
Video
Dual Mapping - Bubble Maps

Exercises

Read Before Next Class

Chapter: WordPress https://bookdown.org/connect/#/apps/f79d74ff-4d33-4bfd-a1aa-de6aaf4e340a/access

Monday Oct. 4: WordPress

WordPress

  Using WordPress
  Access back end
  Embedding interactive data 
  Embed Flourish in WordPress
  Embed Tableau in WordPress
  Building the Web Page

Agenda

Embed visualizations in WordPress

Assignment 2: Reporting Memo with Tableau Chart

Due Oct 5
Students gather, analyze and visualize Arkansascovid data and produce a Tableau chart suitable for publication. Data dictionary required. Report and write a 400 word story and provide social media.

Wednesday Oct. 6: WordPress

Agenda

WordPress

  Using WordPress
  Access back end
  Embedding interactive data 
  Embed Flourish in WordPress
  Embed Tableau in WordPress
  Building the Web Page

Monday, Oct. 12: Context and Story Selection

–Histograms
–Rates and Ratios
–Weighted Averages
–Vaccinations by Race example

Assignment 3: Interactive Map.

  Due Oct 26 
  Students will build interactive maps of Arkansascovid data. 
  Results will be posted on GitHub. Data dictionary required. 
  Basic R used for analysis. Report and write a 400 word story.

Exercises

Wednesday Oct. 13: Context and Story Selection

Agenda

–Histograms
–Rates and Ratios
–Weighted Averages
–Vaccinations by Race example

Homework: See Blackboard for Friday Oct 15

Monday Oct. 18: Introduction to R

Agenda
R Introduction Discuss Assignment 3 Interactive Map

Chapter: R_Intro
https://bookdown.org/connect/#/apps/f79d74ff-4d33-4bfd-a1aa-de6aaf4e340a/access

Introduction to R

  Install R and R Studio.
  Basic tutorial on R
  R1_Intro-to-R exercises
  Reading
  Reproducible research Repetitive tasks in modern newsrooms
  Popular R Libraries
  Data Types and R
  Reference: Logical Operators in R
  Packages
  Important Reference Materials
  R and R Studio

Discuss Assignment 3: Interactive Map. Due Oct 26

Students will build interactive maps of Arkansascovid data. Results will be posted on GitHub.      Data dictionary required. Basic R used for analysis. Report and write a 400 word story.

Exercise

–Left click on the link below, remove .txt extension, save as all files 

https://github.com/profrobwells/CovidFall2020/blob/master/Exercises/Intro%20to%20R%208-20-2020.Rmd

Second option: If that isn’t successful, then go to the  https://raw.githubusercontent.com/profrobwells/CovidFall2020/master/Exercises/Intro%20to%20R%208-20-2020.Rmd –Left Click on document –Save as ALL FILES. REMOVE .TXT extension

Third option: Download "Intro to R 8_20_2020.rmd from your browser directly. https://github.com/profrobwells/CovidFall2020/tree/master/Exercises

Homework: Finish Tutorial R1_Intro-to-R exercises

Chapter: R Intro https://bookdown.org/connect/#/apps/f79d74ff-4d33-4bfd-a1aa-de6aaf4e340a/access

Wednesday, Oct. 20: Introduction to R

Agenda

Introduction to R

Key Points

 Reproducible research   
 Repetitive tasks in modern newsrooms.  Employment reports, crime stats, budgets
 Variables - an R object
 Assignment operator <-
 Case sensitive
 Vector: A vector can only have one type of data - all integers, all strings
 Dataframe - like a spreadsheet
 Save files - Don’t save workspace: because all of your variables will be 
 stored and re-loaded the next time you launch RStudio. 
 It’s too easy to forget about previously stored variables that can 
 interfere with later work

Software packages: tidyverse, rio, pacman

–Exercises

Homework: Friday Oct. 22 Homework. –See Blackboard

Monday Oct 25: Basic R

Agenda

R Tables Exercises

Assignment 3: Interactive Map

Due Oct 26 Students will build interactive maps of Arkansascovid data. Results will be posted on GitHub. Data dictionary required. Basic R used for analysis. Report and write a 400 word story.

Pipes - a Much-Used Command to Link Filters, Functions

    pipe %>%     CMD +  Shift + M  

  • **Dplyr Presentation*  

    Five basic verbs     filter()     select()     arrange()     mutate()     summarize()     plus group_by()

      Check what software packages are running: Global Environment       Navigation:      ^ + shift + 8 = Zoom to Environment       AP Style on numbers: AP Numerals Entry.pdf

Wednesday Oct 27: Tidyverse and R

Agenda

Tidyverse
Dplyr
Math with R

Exercises

Homework: Friday, Oct 29 –See Blackboard

Monday, Nov. 1: Dates in R

Agenda

Lubridate
top_n

Top_n

 List of Days of Most New Cases

https://app.flourish.studio/visualisation/4007988/edit

 Data is topcases.csv 
 Values: Date, New Cases Today (column D) 
 --R table automatically selects the top 10. 
 --no filter

Exercises

 Using Lubridate    
 Download:

https://github.com/profrobwells/CovidFall2020/blob/master/Exercises/Slicing-Dicing%20Data%2010-14-2020.Rmd

Homework: Tuesday, Nov. 2 Homework -See Blackboard

Monday, Nov. 8: Calculations in R

Agenda

Calculations in R   
Discuss Assignment 4

Assignment 4: Interactive Data Visualization. Due Nov 16. Students build multipanel interactive graphics / maps of Arkansascovid data by school district. Basic R used for analysis. Results will be posted on GitHub. Data dictionary required. Report and write a 600 word story.

Exercises

Using R to Shorten, Simplify the Master File https://github.com/profrobwells/CovidFall2020/blob/master/Exercises/Slicing-Dicing%20Data%2010-14-2020.Rmd

Red vs Blue Covid election results map

https://apnews.com/article/counties-worst-virus-surges-voted-trump-d671a483534024b5486715da6edb6ebf

Wednesday, Nov. 10: R Data Visualization

Agenda

Graphics - ggplot     
Discuss Assignment #4
Quick Charts in Daily Script 

  How We Did This: Daily Update Script

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/profrobwells/CovidFall2020/master/Daily%20Update.Rmd

R data visualization

  Basic GGPLOT
  Using color
  Formatting PNG for export
  Scatterplots
  Histograms
  Box plots
  Line graphs
  ggplot cookbook 4-26-20.rmd

We will build this today

GGPLOT Cookbook

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/profrobwells/CovidFall2020/master/Exercises/ggplot%20cookbook%204-26-20.Rmd

New Fun with Sicing and Dicing
https://github.com/profrobwells/CovidFall2020/blob/master/Exercises/Slicing-Dicing%20Data%2010-14-2020.Rmd

Monday, Nov. 15: R Graphics

Agenda

Graphics  
Red vs Blue Covid election results map

Assignment 4: Interactive Data Visualization

Due Nov 16.
Students build multipanel interactive graphics / maps of Arkansascovid data by school district.     Basic R used for analysis. Results will be posted on GitHub. Data dictionary required. Report      and write a 600 word story.

Exercises

We will build this today

GGPLOT Cookbook

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/profrobwells/CovidFall2020/master/Exercises/ggplot%20cookbook%204-26-20.Rmd

New Fun with Sicing and Dicing
https://github.com/profrobwells/CovidFall2020/blob/master/Exercises/Slicing-Dicing%20Data%2010-14-2020.Rmd

Wednesday, Nov. 17

Agenda

 GGPLOT
 Feeding R to Flourish

Exercise

Katy’s Chart

https://app.flourish.studio/visualisation/4380046/edit

Tutorial

Details on Line Chart Race

https://help.flourish.studio/article/75-line-chart-race-an-overview

Details of a Bar Chart Race

https://help.flourish.studio/article/44-bar-chart-race-an-overview

Attempt at a Bar Chart Race by County on New Deaths
--Formatting Data to Match Flourish Requirements.
--Pivot Table

https://app.flourish.studio/visualisation/4379103/edit

Your Turn:

Build Cases Per 10,000
Build Demographics Over Time
Build Counties Over Time

Read Before Next Class

Nov. 22-26: Thanksgiving Week, Holiday

Monday, Nov. 30: Reporting

Agenda

Discuss Assignment 5
Datawrapper

Assignment 5: Multimedia Data Story. Due Dec 3. Students will produce a blog post with photos, a short video, a map and an interactive graphic plus a 400 word story. Basic R used for analysis. Results will be posted on GitHub. Data dictionary required.

Datawrapper

https://app.datawrapper.de/

Exercises

Create Monthly Totals for November

Create a New R Markdown File for November Totals   
Use this Slicing and Dicing Exercise as a Template  
Monthly Totals for Hospitals, Deaths, New Cases  
Visualize in Flourish  
Post your code on Teams

https://github.com/profrobwells/CovidFall2020/blob/master/Exercises/Slicing-Dicing%20Data%2010-14-2020.Rmd

Homework: Tuesday, Nov. 30. –See Blackboard

Wednesday, Dec. 1: Assignment 5

Assignment 5: Multimedia Data Story

Due Dec 3. Students will produce a blog post with photos, a short video, a map and an interactive graphic plus a 400 word story. Basic R used for analysis. Results will be posted on GitHub. Data dictionary required.

Agenda

Workshop on Assignment 5

Monday, Dec. 6: Wrapup

Agenda

Datawrapper

Important!

Course Evaluation
Please do me  a favor and evaluate this course. 
It's important to me and the department to get your thoughts
on what worked and what did not. 
If you think it is important, 
then please take five minutes to fill out the survey.

https://courseval.uark.edu/

Exercises: Basic GitHub

This class is intended to teach you modern workflow techniques for coding. A centerpiece of that workflow is GitHub. This is a website with a system that allows you to collaborate with other programmers on coding projects. It manages versions of software code and is a very popular with the tech elite. 

Your GitHub account, which is public, represents an important professional image. Prospective employers and collaborators will look at your GitHub account.

Create a GitHub account

https://github.com/

Exercise #1: Hello World Setup

https://guides.github.com/activities/hello-world/

Exercise #2: GitHub flow

https://guides.github.com/introduction/flow/

Help Files

https://help.github.com/en/desktop

Exercise #3: Pull Request
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1MbltRcOerktc-E26HMDjYj0BO9CTubQWu1Z2bB9CpVY/edit#slide=id.g448ccc227721fe56_10

  See the above link, Max Harlow on How to Use GitHub   
  1. Create a test repository, call it "Junk"
  2. Commit copies of a random R script and a random text .txt file
  3. Pair up with a buddy. Follow them on GitHub
  4. Fork their Junk repository
  5. Report an Issue on their repository. See slides #47-53
  6. Create a pull request on their repository. See slides #54-68
  7. Resolve the issues and pull request for your own GitHub account.
  8. Revel in your nerd powers. Watch Star Trek reruns. Eat Pringles.

GitHub Resources

Basic GitHub 4-22-19.R
https://bit.ly/2UAMGTd

Another GitHub guide
https://andrewbtran.github.io/NICAR/2018/workflow/docs/03-integrating_github.html

Simplified GitHub- GitHub Desktop
https://help.github.com/en/desktop

Setting up an R Workflow
http://learn.r-journalism.com/en/publishing/workflow/r-projects/

Advanced: Set Up GitHub in an R Project https://support.rstudio.com/hc/en-us/articles/200532077?version=1.2.5033&mode=desktop

Wednesday, Dec. 8

Agenda

  GitHub   
  Wrap up

Congratulations! 

 We covered a lot this semester

–30–